PROCLAMATION BY GOVERNOR LINDA LINGLE ON THE PASSING OF FORMER PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD

For Immediate Release: December 26, 2006

The people of Hawai`i join the nation in mourning the passing of Gerald Rudolph Ford, the 38th President of the United States, who passed away peacefully at his home in California on December 26, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Betty, and children Michael, Jack, Steven and Susan.

President Ford served his country well. During his time in the Oval Office, he helped America begin to heal from the tumultuous era of Vietnam and Watergate. He also brought greater security to the world by curbing the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. That higher level of trust was perhaps most eloquently symbolized when American astronauts joined Soviet cosmonauts in a 1975 joint space mission. President Ford hailed that venture as “blazing a new trail of international space cooperation.”

With the passing of President Ford, America has lost a faithful and long-standing leader. He was a great American and will surely be missed.

THEREFORE, I, LINDA LINGLE, Governor of the State of Hawai`i, do hereby order the lowering of the Hawai`i state flag to half-staff on all state and county buildings in conjunction with the United States flag for a period of 30 days from the day of his death, and encourage our residents and visitors to offer their condolences to the Ford family.

DONE at the State Capitol, in the Executive Chambers, Honolulu, State of Hawai`i, this twenty-seventh day of December 2006.

Linda Lingle
Governor, State of Hawai`i

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For more information, contact:

Lenny Klompus 
Senior Advisor – Policy
Phone: (808) 586-7708

Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: (808) 586-0043

Leighton Siu
Chief of Protocol
Phone: (808) 586-0004